As FY24/25 wraps up, the industrial market across Newcastle and the Hunter is navigating two opposing forces: a rise in available talent from restructures and redundancies, and ongoing skill shortages in critical, specialised roles.
Talent Availability: Redundancies in mining, civil, and manufacturing have expanded the mid-to-senior talent pool, creating strong opportunities for businesses that can move quickly and offer stability.
Skill Shortages Persist: Roles requiring trade qualifications, security clearances, or niche experience, particularly in defence and infrastructure, remain hard to fill, driving wage pressure and impacting project timelines.
Key Challenge: Employers must manage both realities: acting fast when the market shifts in their favour while developing strategies to attract and retain high-demand skill sets.
Transitional Workforce – One to Watch
The phased closure of coal mines like Mount Arthur and Mangoola signals a major shift for the region’s workforce. The challenge isn’t just redeployment, but reskilling and redefining career pathways, especially into defence, renewables, manufacturing, and infrastructure.
The defence sector offers strong potential, but barriers like clearances and onboarding timelines remain. Regional collaboration will be essential.
Key Trends This Year
- Rise in active, senior-level jobseekers
- Urgency to fill critical roles in project-based work
- Shift from job boards to targeted recruitment
- Candidates are prioritising stability, culture, and leadership
Looking Ahead to FY25/26
In a tightening market, retention will be critical, with businesses needing to engage and support their existing workforce to avoid losing valuable talent. As mine closures draw closer, reskilling and workforce mobility will become more urgent, requiring proactive strategies to transition workers into new roles. Speed to hire will remain a competitive advantage, particularly in project-based environments where downtime carries real cost. Ultimately, proactive workforce planning will distinguish resilient businesses from those that continue to rely on reactive hiring.
The year ahead will test adaptability. With industry change accelerating, businesses must balance readiness and resilience to meet what’s next.